Andalusia - II. Ronda to Cadiz

From Granada we drove west to Cádiz, stopping along the way at a some of the pueblos blancos.

Our first stop was Ronda, perched on the sheer cliffs of a gorge cut by the River Tajo.
This strong defensive position was a natural location for a town in earlier times, and Ronda's history goes back at least to Roman times, and perhaps to an earlier Celtic settlement. From the 8th century until 1482 it was a Moorish provincial capital.

We spent a pleasant couple of hours wandering up and down streets of white houses.
Peering into courtyards (in this case of the Convento de Santo Domingo).
Spotting the Palacio del Marqués de Salviatierra.
With its decidedly odd Aztec or Inca details.

The explanation - according to the guide book - is that the family's title derived from the Mexican town of Salvatierra.





Ronda also has a bullring built in the 18th century and is famous as one of the cradles of modern bullfighting - but we didn't spend much time on that.

We continued west, past several other pueblo blanco towns, stopping at Arcos de la Frontiera.

Arcos also is built on a promentory.














When we arrived mid-afternoon the sun was in full force and the town deserted as we climbed the hill to the old town.

We had the narrow streets nearly to ourselves.















Then we drove on to Cádiz, where we were spending the night. Cádiz occupies a narrow spit of land extending into the Atlantic and has a fine harbor to which much of its history is tied. Indeed, it was founded by the Phoenicians, about 1100 BC according to tradition; later it was an important Roman trading port. In 1717 it took over the monopoly of Spanish trade with its American colonies from Sevilla (whose access to the Atlantic was limited when the Rio Guadalquiver silted up). And in 1805 the Spanish-French fleet sailed from Cádiz to defeat at Trafalgar.

In 1596 Cádiz was briefly captured and thoroughly sacked in a raid by English Earl of Essex. This destroyed most traces of ancient and medieval times. The old city retains a set of walls across the neck of land, but otherwise was mostly laid out and built up in the 16th to 18th centuries. The result is an old town beyond the walls of narrow, but often long and straight streets.
There are few remarkable monuments, but many opportunities for pleasant wandering. We especially enjoyed the Plaza de San Francisco.
Where we made dinner of tapas.
There were parks with views of the ocean, and some huge trees.
Promenades along the ocean, which Pat enjoyed.
And views of the small beach in old Cádiz.

Andalucia - I. Granada

We are just back from an eight day trip to Andalusia, visiting the big three - Granada, Sevilla, and Cordoba - and several smaller towns along the way.

The differences between Catalunya and Andalucia were immediately striking. To cite just two, white is the predominant color of Andalusian buildings often accented with ocher, while Catalunya favors dark earth tones of the grotto or cave. Moorish buildings and influences are everywhere in Andalusia, but nearly absent in Catalunya where the Moors presence was quite brief.

Granada was our first stop.

Old Granada is built on two hills facing each other. The Alhambra stretches half-a-mile wide along one of the hills, with the Sierra Nevada mountains as a backdrop.
Granada was the last outpost of the Moors in Spain. By 750 the Moors controlled all of the Iberian peninsula but a strip across the north. The next 740 or so years were the time of the Reconquista, as Christian nobles wrestled control back from Moorish leaders. When Granada surrendered to Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, the Reconquista of Spain was complete.

Across from the Alhambra lie the white houses on the Albaicín hill, the refuge of the Moorish population after the reconquest of Granada (and the site of the last Moorish rebellion in 1568).
The two hills are separated by a steep valley, through which runs the narrow Darro river.









Our tickets to the Alhambra were for our second day in Granada (timed entrances to the Nasrid palace do sell out -- we had purchased ours several weeks earlier). We spend most of the first day enjoying Albaicín.

One of the best preserved and oldest Arabian bathhouses in Andulusia, which was built in the 11th century.
Its narrow streets of whitewashed houses that wind up and down the Albaicín, often with views of the Alhambra.
Pleasant squares - this is the Pl. San Miguel Bajo.
We stopped at a cafe here for a beer and later returned for dinner. On the recommendation of the owner we ordered lomo en salsa - chunks of pork in a thick, piquant, paprika-laced sauce. He promised that if we didn't like it we wouldn't have to pay. We paid, happily.

The mirador front of San Nicolas, filled with tourists taking their postcard pictures of the Alhambra, informal flamenco performances (contributions welcomed), and various trinkets for sale.
The view of the Alhambra is especially beautiful at sunset: being good tourists, we took our own postcard pictures. The oldest part of the Alhambra, the Alcazaba (citadel), was built in the 13th century and protects the end of the hill overlooking the large fertile valley to the west .
At the other end of the complex are the various palaces. The square towers and unremarkable-looking lower buildings in the front of this picture are the palaces of the Nasrid princes, built in the 14th century; their beauty is interior, not exterior. Behind are those built by Christian kings are their conquest - the solid, square palace of Charles V and further back the pointed tower of the adjoining chapel.

The next day we went to the Alhambra itself - which despite all one has heard manages to exceed anticipation. Pictures, and certainly the ones I took, truly are inadequate - if only because they cannot capture impression of being surrounded by, immersed in remarkable sights

The massive towers of the Alcazaba fortress and horseshoe-arched entry gate.

The stolid massiveness of Charles V's palace is completely incongruous against the highly ornamented Nasrid palaces, but it is nonetheless an impressive Renaissance design with a circular 2-story arcade within the external square.
And exterior stones and decoration that would look right at home in Florence.
But all else is exceeded by the beauty of the Nasrid palaces. There are inner courtyards built around pools and fountains.
Elaborately decorated arches and entries.
Ornamental detailing in sculptured or cut stucco with rhythmic floral and geometric patterns and Arabic script, accented with more geometric designs in azulejos tiling.
Intricately decorated ceilings.
Pavilions set among gardens and pools.
And, as a further treat, the separate "summer palace" of the nearby Generalife set amidst its own extensive gardens.

Human Castells!

We had read about them, seen plaques in squares in Gracia, and even a sculpture of one in Tarragona, but we had not seen a Catalan castell -- human tower. Today we did in Gracia.

First came the preliminaries. Bands marched into the Placa de la Revolución in Gracia, beating drums and blowing the distinctive Catalan shawns.
Followed by fireworks, with the participation of a dragon.

Then it was time to build castells. First, each casteller was wrapped tightly in a sash, which provides not only support, but also convenient foot and hand holds for the climbers.
A supporting base forms, with everyone pushing in to support the weight of the tower. The castellers who forms each level of the tower line up and begin to climb.Each level was made up of three or four castellers, each stands on the shoulders of those below and locks arms. As each level forms up, the next climbs over them..
Then two remarkably young children begin to climb, stepping on and grabbing sashes, shoulders, the backs of legs -- whatever they can use to pull themselves up. They climb all the way to the top, and raise a hand to the crowd. Then each crosses to the other side of the castell and shimmies down.
As each castell came down, another group of castellers would form and build their castell. We were about to leave, thinking each castell was formed the same way. And then another group began; altogether, we saw 5 or 6 castells. All were much the same -- until the last. It went up much like the others, but then they added a central pillar to their castell -- and left it freestanding with one of the children on top as the castell came down.
Impressive!

Spring visitors - Alan and Meredith

Alan and Meredith left this morning after an event filled week.

The first day we visited the Placa Reial
And the Placa del Rei (where the tour guide was an unavoidable part of the package).

Up the hill another day to Park Guell.
Alan and Meredith visited Sagrada Familia and climbed the spires to share a view of the city.
The Barcelona beach.
Yesterday we went for a picnic at Montjuic followed by a hike up to visit to the Castell, overlooking the sea and the city it controlled for so long .
A visit to the CosmoCaixa science museum, where Meredith visited with a remarkably fresh-looking Albert E and some fish.
We also fit in a couple of special events: a Barca football game at Camp Nou their first night in town (where Pat and I enjoyed great seats, complements of Robert's and Alan's birthday gift to me).
And a concert at the Palau de la Musica.

Preceded by pinxtos in its cafe.















Friday we took a day trip to Sitges.
In between touring we played euchre at our flat -- celebrating victories and near-victories appropriately.
And of course we did not neglect the food. Lunch in the garden at Can Robert.
Where Meredith was impressed by that Catalan specialty, butifarra!












Tapas -- and dessert -- at Ciutat Contal.
And our last night we went for paella and sangria.